Around The World

We didn’t sleep last night as well as we might. We’re both fighting off cough and cold symptoms, so our sleep was a bit interrupted. After eventually getting ourselves organised, we got down to breakfast around 9:45 am.

After a very nice breakfast, we walked back through the gardens to our room, stopping on the way to admire the beautiful flowers.

After breakfast, we returned to our room to collect a few things for a day on the road. We had decided to head further west today, to the Welsh capital of Cardiff.

We set off for Cardiff via Bristol, which is only about half an hour’s drive from Bath. We toured around the city of Bristol before crossing the Avon River on the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and heading out of the city.

The next bridge we crossed was the impressive Prince of Wales Bridge, which runs for 5 kilometres and connects England to Wales across the River Severn. The tide was out when we crossed into Wales, so most of what we saw from the bridge was just mud.

When we got into Cardiff, we headed for the main railway station, reasoning that it would be pretty central and a good place from which to start exploring. We parked the car in the station’s car park and headed off on foot to have a look at the city. We headed toward the spire of the St John The Baptist Church, one of only two medieval buildings remaining in the city.

Next, we walked to the Cardiff Castle, the other medieval building in Cardiff. The castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roman fort. We toured around the castle for a while, which we enjoyed.

We left the castle and walked back along Duke Street. We enjoyed going in and out of the many little arcades in Cardiff. We stopped in at one little shop that made Welsh cakes. We were not familiar with Welsh cakes. They are a cross between a shortbread, a scone, and a flatbread, and they are very delicious.

We continued walking around Cardiff for a while, enjoying its relaxed atmosphere. At around 5:30 pm, we decided to stop at a Japanese restaurant for dinner.

After a very enjoyable dinner, we decided to head back to Bath, so we walked back to the train station car park to get the car.

We hopped back in the car and set off on the drive back to Bath. When we got back to the Prince of Wales Bridge, the tide was back in and it all looked very different. Apparently, the part of the River Severn that the bridge spans has a tidal range of 14.5 metres, the second highest in the world.

We had an enjoyable drive back to Bath, and arrived back at the hotel just after 8:00 pm.

We are checking out tomorrow and heading south to Chewton Glen, a magnificent hotel and spa on the edge of the New Forest National Park, on the south coast of England.